We've already looked at the Scotiabank Giller Prize nominees of the decade, now it's time to turn to the awards that are, arguably, the most Canadian of them all: the Governor General's Literary Awards. Given out annually since 1936, the GGs (as they are affectionately known) celebrate achievements in French and English in seven different categories: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, children's literature and translation.

The awards were created by John Buchan, an author himself. (He wrote the political thriller The Thirty-Nine Steps, a nice tie-in to this month's CBC Book Club theme.)

In our continuing search for the Top 40 essential Canadian novels of the past decade, we're highlighting novels shortlisted for the GG in English-language fiction since 2001. The titles are listed in the poll below. Cast your vote for the read you feel is the most essential.

Every vote will count as one point towards the title. You can also give a novel a point by submitting a recommendation to us directly. We accept recommendations through our online form, Facebook and Twitter. One vote is worth one point. One recommendation is worth one point. The 40 books with the most points will be declared the "40 essential Canadian novels of the decade."